Funeral services are scheduled Saturday in Grand Forks for Ben Clayburgh, who was a state and national leader in the Republican Party for five decades.

Clayburgh died Monday at age 88. His wife, Bev, tells the Grand Forks Herald (http://bit.ly/WFDqch ) that he had been suffering from dementia.

Clayburgh, an orthopedic surgeon, was a former state Republican Party chairman and a member of the Republican National Committee. In 1994 he made an unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. Son Rick Clayburgh is a former state legislator and tax commissioner.

Amundson Funeral Home says Clayburgh's funeral is 11 a.m. Saturday at United Lutheran Church in Grand Forks.